- Empty cart.
- Continue Shopping
Success brings joy to all. The beauty of fly fishing.
Brian Willson NZPFGA member, professional guide and I Love Fly Fishing shop partner, brings us his weekly fly fishing report from Turangi for the Central North Island lakes and rivers. For up to date info, for what flies are working and if you want to call to the shop – 8 Wiremu Street – call Brian on 021667867. Brian fishes Euro/Czech, Dry Fly, Trout Spey, Nymph and Wet Fly.
Greetings fellow fly fishers,
Well, it has been a good week on the Turangi rivers with a lot of happy fly fishers coming into the I Love Fly Fishing shop in Turangi. The significant rain we had earlier in the week has put a good flush of water through all the rivers and consequently has made a number of previous dormant fish get moving and show a bit of interest in a well-placed nymph or wet fly. The last couple of days has seen bright sunshine and falling rivers making for some superb fishing.
The Tauranga Taupo River has benefited best from the rain, and it needed to because it has been very low for a long time. Because of this the Tauranga Taupo has seen a lot more interest from anglers. I had a look at the carpark today and it was the fullest that I have seen it for several months. Some anglers have done very well in the last few days on this river while others have had to work a bit harder to get fish to the net. The Tongariro has fished very well all week and has also seen an increase in anglers. Nymphing both Euro and conventional has been the preferred method this week with small egg patterns doing really well but naturals are also taking their share.
The Hinemaiaia River has fished very well this week and I had the pleasure last Thursday guiding a couple of novices from Texas to this river. Within 15 minutes we had 3 good fish, so my day was off to a good start. These guys had heard about fishing in NZ, and we’re staying in Auckland and decided to fly down to Taupo in the morning and fly back to Auckland at 5pm that afternoon. I had to pick them up from the airport and drop them back in the afternoon hopefully after giving them an experience that they wouldn’t forget. Talk about pressure!! It didn’t help that they weren’t the best casters and I had to untangle or tie on many new flies that had got caught up in the blackberries throughout the day. Nevertheless, we had some good action throughout the day with a number of fish caught and lost and they were a couple of good guys, so it was all worth it.
I also took Tracie Leigh, receptionist extraordinaire, from Tongariro Lodge one afternoon to the Hinemaiaia. She soon picked up the basic casting skills and played and landed a nice rainbow Jack like a pro. Well done Tracie Leigh, you’ll have the fly fishing bug now. 😀 I decided to have a bit of a look at the Hinemaiaia River today myself and had a ball losing count of how many fish I lost and landed. I was catching them on everything, but the best nymph was a 6mm Cleardrift egg with orange in it e.g., salmon roe, Tekapo orange, orange and orange and pink. Clearview yellow eggs have also worked quite well for me.
As always, all your fly fishing and fly tying needs call and see me at the I Love Fly Fishing Shop in Turangi, 8 Wiremu St, phone 021667867. If there is anything you need, give me a ring and I will open up anytime (within reason of course 
), just call me and I’ll sort you out. 021667867.
alpsblue poolboulder poolboulder reachbraidscanalscentral north islandEast CapeEasternfishing reportfly fishinghydro pooljudges poolmajor jones poolmangamawhitiwhiti stream.maparaMohakanew zealandnorth islandohauOmori StreamPoutu PoolPoutu Riverpukakiriver fishingrolling eggtauranga-taupo rivertekapoTongariro Rivertube flyturangiWaioekawaipehiWaipungawhakapapa
Brian
My name is Brian Willson and I have been a fly fisher for over 50 years. I am a professional fishing guide and current NZPFGA member of which I have served at executive level and have guided anglers of different skill sets, ages and gender from all over the world. I have also written two books on fly fishing and am a keen artist. I am passionate about fly fishing and the therapeutic qualities it offers and enjoy sharing this experience with people on and off the water. Over the years I have made some amazing friendships that continue to this day. I have partnered up with one of these friendships, Barrie Barnes from I Love Fly Fishing, and I sell exclusively, quality, affordable fly fishing gear at my premises at 8 Wiremu Street, Turangi, the designated I Love Fly Fishing shop in Turangi which is open all hours— just ring 021667867 anytime. I take a serious interest in my clients and freely offer advice when asked and am happy to talk fishing anytime. Tight lines, Brian Willson
all author posts
